Time: 1.30pm
Route: Paisley Canal
Distance: 5miles
Time Run: 36mins 45secs
I went for an easy 5mile run today just to keep my legs moving with Monday’s Hogmanay race in mind. It was nice and easy and I spent the time thinking about the race on Monday. It’s funny how I always win these races in my mind!!
So here are my goals for the coming year. Last year on this blog I concentrated on the whw race for my goals and even though it is very much the main event for me again for 2008 I thought I’d like to have a few other goals to aim for as well so here goes ….
Here they are in distance order with an extra couple at the end …
1. 10k
This year I ran one 10k and finished just under 40mins. So my goal for 2008 is to get under 39mins.
2. Half Marathon
I didn’t manage to run a half marathon this year but I would like to make sure I find one in 2008 and I would like to get under 1hr 27mins.
3. Marathon
This year I ran the Loch Ness Marathon and was aiming for under 3hrs 15mins and just missed out by 16secs. The race is early October and I felt this year that it came a bit too soon so next year I’m planning to run the Dublin Marathon which is the end of October. That would give me an extra 4 weeks of training. So my goal for Dublin Marathon is to get under 3hrs 15mins which would be a pb.
4. Highland Fling (53 miles)
This year the Highland Fling was my first ever ultra marathon and gave me a lot of confidence to go on and run the whw race 8 weeks later. I was hoping for anything under 11hrs and was very pleased to finish in 10hrs 36mins. So my goal for next year is a pb and a challenging time of 10hrs 15mins as a bonus.
5. whw race
This year my gold medal goal at the beginning of the year was under 24hrs. As my training went on and even though I carried an injury for a number of weeks before the race I felt that a sub 23hrs was possible. By the time I arrived at Kingshouse after 72 miles I was an hour ahead of my sub 23hr schedule BUT my quads were so sore! I so pleased to finish in 22hrs 45mins 19secs but I honestly feel that I have a quicker time in me! I’m now 48 and reckon I have a couple of years to achieve my pb. After that it will be a battle against time and age! So I want to give myself the best chance I have. This time last year I had been training hard for 2 months after a long lay off from injury, then 6months of easy running. At this point now I have run almost 1,900 miles this year and I have the experience of running the Highland Fling and whw race.
So my goal for the whw race 08 is 21hrs 59mins. This is 45mins quicker than I achieved this year and will be a real challenge BUT I feel it is within my ability! Obviously so much depends on the weather, my fitness etc etc but I like to have goals to aim for and this is my main one for the year.
6. 2,000 miles for the year
This year I will have ran just over 1,900 miles and so I’m going to aim for 2,000 for next year!
7. Final goal
I really enjoy my races with Ian (whw runner) and so another goal would be to beat Ian in any race, anytime by any distance!!
